Many different products are packaged and distributed as rolls of sheet material. Such sheet material is coiled about a typically hollow core, usually a cardboard tube. In addition, such sheet material is frequently perforated to define readily separable sheets of the material. Toilet tissue and paper towels are well known exemplary products. Wrapping paper, wax paper, metal foil, and plastic sheets represent other examples.
The prior art includes many types of devices for holding and dispensing such sheet material. These fixtures are commonly found in residential and commercial kitchens and bathrooms. Such fixtures usually attach to a suitable and convenient surface, such as a wall, the underside of a shelf, or the backside of a door. One type of prior art fixture is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,710, entitled "Roll Holding Fixture," and issued to the inventor of the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,710 is incorporated herein by reference.
As shown in FIG. 1 herein, the prior art fixture also described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,553,710 includes a base 10 having an integrally formed exterior surface 11, a tapered surface 12, and a recessed surface 13. Support arm mounts 14 rigidly attach to base 10 and have holes 15 therein so that base 10 can mount upon a mounting member (not shown), such as a wall, door, ceiling, overhang, or the like, using screws 16. Support arms 17 couple to mounting supports 14 to hide screws 16 from view and to rotatably couple to a roll of sheet material (not shown). When mounted to the mounting member, recessed surface 13 of base 10 extends into the interior of the mounting member while exterior and tapered surfaces 11 and 12, respectively, reside outside of the mounting member.
While this prior art fixture has achieved a degree of commercial success, it has nevertheless presented heretofore unanswered problems. For example, the base 10, which includes integrally formed exterior, tapered, and recessed surfaces 11, 12, and 13, respectively, has proven undesirably expensive to manufacture. In order to achieve the desired surface shapes and the strength needed to remain attached to the mounting member while being subjected to external forces applied during dispensing operations, base 10 has been stamped from a suitable metal. Thus, the materials from which base 10 has been formed have been undesirably expensive. In addition, recessed surface 13 has been difficult to polish in preparation for applying a desired surface finish, such as paint or an anodized film. This difficulty has further increased costs associated with base 10.
Moreover, roll holding fixtures often serve a decorative role in addition to their roll holding and dispensing functions. As decorative items, a fixture's aesthetic value increases if the fixture can be provided with a variety of color schemes. However, the costs associated with manufacturing multiple color versions of the above-discussed prior art fixture have been prohibitive due to the integral construction of base 10. In addition, the stocking and distribution costs of maintaining an inventory of all possible color combinations is exponentially greater than the costs associated with stocking and distributing single color fixtures. Consequently, the above-discussed prior art fixture has failed to achieve its decorative potential.